Friday, March 16, 2012

Day 76: Whining or Wallowing

All of this whining about my book deadline, the pressure of it, my turning 50 and getting "o-l-d," etc. etc., has led me to reflect on how much I whine. And, it has made me wonder: just where is the line between whining and wallowing or, is there even one?

Over the past year I have been taking a cold, hard look at myself and not surprisingly, I don't always like what I see. One of the things I dislike the most is the whining, and the fact that I crossed over that line a long time ago.

At almost 50, it is way past time for me to come back over the line to the other side. It sounds simple, but it sure hasn't been. Our habits, our way of being in the world, are some of the hardest things to change. They are even harder to break when you surround yourself with people who have the same habits. That's probably why they are in our lives to begin with. That tired old cliché "misery loves company," points out the truism in that. 

So, I am working on changing this. Part of why it is hard is that there are simply some people who will never change, or don't even know they are doing it, and those are the people that can keep you mired in it if you let them. My job is to not let them, even if that means letting them go.

I find it interesting how things seem to happen in your life just at the right time or just when they are needed. Maybe it is just that we start becoming aware of them because they are similar to what we are going through. As I have written about before, music is one of those things for me. The right song can always help me get through the hard things in my life.

And, right now, I keep hearing the line to my current favorite song playing in my head: "All of your wallowing is unbecoming. All of your wallowing is unbecoming."

It is this song,  "Come Back Down," by Greg Laswell, who is joined by Sara Bareilles. I love them both and they sound great together. It is about a friend who has been having a "pity party" and whose friends are waiting for him/her to "come back down."

This version has the lyrics over the video, which is good and bad since they video is so great and it kind of blocks the scenery. You can also see the video (without the lyrics) on Greg Laswell's web site. Right now, the video pops up as soon as you go to his site.  

"All of your wallowing is unbecoming. All of your wallowing is unbecoming. You've got to take it on your own from here. It's getting pathetic. And I'm almost done. here. You've got to come back down."

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